Porsche 2012 Annual Report Download - page 43

New group locations
The Volkswagen group opened a new vehicle plant
in Yizheng in the Chinese province of Jiangsu ahead
of schedule at the end of July 2012. The production
facilities have an annual production capacity of
around 300,000 vehicles and include a press shop,
body shell production, paint shop and final assem-
bly. It is one of the Volkswagen group’s most envi-
ronmentally friendly plants. Production began with
the Volkswagen Polo, which will be joined by
ŠKODA models in a next step.
The Volkswagen group added a new location to
its Chinese production network, laying the founda-
tion for a new gearbox plant in the Chinese city of
Tianjin. The 450,000-unit capacity plant is sched-
uled to start production in 2014. This is expected to
create over 1,500 new jobs.
As part of its growth strategy, the Volkswagen
group is also increasing its production capacity in
Russia. The contracts for a new engine plant to be
built close to Volkswagen’s Kaluga location were
signed at the end of August. Designed to have an
annual capacity of 150,000 engines, the plant is
expected to commence production in 2015.
At the beginning of September, the Audi brand
announced plans to build a new production facility
in the Americas in the central Mexican city of San
José Chiapa. 150,000 units of the successor to the
Audi Q5 are to be produced there every year from
2016. Construction will begin in mid-2013.
In August, the Volkswagen group of America
opened a state-of-the-art research and develop-
ment center in California. Drives and vehicles from
several group brands will be tested and optimized
here from fall 2012 before going into production. A
central part of the 6,000 m2 facility is the climate-
controlled emissions lab where vehicles can be
tested for exhaust emissions and performance at
temperatures of down to minus 35°C.
Volkswagen Osnabrück starts production of
Porsche Boxster
The first Porsche Boxster to be produced in Lower
Saxony rolled off the production line at
Volkswagen’s Osnabrück plant on 19 September
2012 in the presence of Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn,
chairman of the board of management of
Volkswagen AG, David McAllister, former Minister
President of the Federal State of Lower Saxony and
Matthias Müller, Chairman of the executive board of
Porsche AG. Porsche manufactures the new Box-
ster together with the Porsche 911 at its main pro-
duction facility in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The deci-
sion to start production at Osnabrück was made as
current capacity at Porsche’s main plant is no long-
er sufficient. The Osnabrück plant is the compe-
tence center for convertible and small series pro-
duction within the Volkswagen group.
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